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Germany or Bust

World travel sounds fun and glamorous until it’s your 18-year old daughter who’s “bustin’ it” for another country! As our firstborn prepared to depart for a 7 +month stint abroad with a national mission organization, we wanted to celebrate this milestone with a going away party for friends and family….and the distraction of planning a large gathering of people I love, to celebrate the daughter I love, was much like therapy as I anticipated her dreaded departure. Admittedly, there is a bit of added pressure when you make a living planning parties for others and you are having one of your own, but there are also many added benefits. One of the obvious benefits of running a vintage rental business is that there are all kinds of cool props and party aids to choose from when planning your own personal celebrations, so after sending out the e-vites, my mind jumped to putting some of our fun rentals to use in my own backyard.

First and foremost on the list of must-haves was our vintage airstream photo booth. The silver bullet made a fun backdrop for all kinds of travel memorabilia, as well as a semi-private place for small groups of folks at a very large party to gather for a quiet place to talk or better yet, for a fun group picture. Also on the list of the must-haves were our gigantic movie reels, which made the perfect place to display pictures of our daughter at all of the ages and stages of her growing up, and of course many of the photos contained shots of the guests who would be at the party.

Our large crystal drink dispensers would allow our guests to serve themselves a beverage of choice, and since each holds 3 gallons, the attractive dispensers would also save me a lot of scurrying around trying to keep glasses filled. With the beverages taken care of ahead of time, I would be free to greet our guests at the banana split bar....

Although one can set the stage for the perfect party, one can't control the weather, and to my dismay, a summer evening storm sent over a hundred and fifty people scurrying for cover. Ice cream, nuts , and even the cherries on top were forgotten as I rushed outside to help gather the vintage table linens and centerpiece globes from the yard. I did (for a split second anyway) wonder where my 5 year old had found shelter in the midst of the thunder and lightning, only to later have him knock on his own front door as basically the last "guest" to attempt to come inside. When I asked him how in the world he had gotten so wet, he gleefully explained that he had been riding around in our neighbor's golf cart right in the middle of the storm. When I asked through a grimace who else was with him on this 4-wheeled death trap, he said that his co-passengers had been his 8-year old cousin and our 9-year old neighbor. Hey, atleast it was the 9-year old who was driving!........... ( Call social services if you must, but no party host can be on top of everything.)

The highlight of the night for me was when my Great-aunt Frances, one of our guests, told me in the middle of all the running around that I "was looking so good....just like one of the teenagers." What made this so funny was that just 5 minutes before making this comment, this same dear aunt had told me that she could hardly see a thing due to cataracts in her eyes that she was hoping to soon have removed. Her comment assured me that she needs that cataract surgery sooner rather than later!